"I only get one life and I will not let Fibromyalgia take the joy from my living it."

Sunday, February 19, 2012

To Med or Not To Med

I've been off the Lyrica for a while. I actually ran out of my prescription and having had to find a new doctor I had to make an appointment to get meds. Well, with a baby that has been kinda difficult. So I ended up off the Lyrica and getting it pretty much out of my system. I thought I was doing okay so I told the doctor I wanted to try to go without it. Well, it wasn't much longer that all my sensitivities to external stimuli started crashing back down on me: The sensitivities to touch, smells, sounds, lights, motion, changes in temperature. I'm more fatigued now even though I'm getting more sleep than when the baby first arrived. I've had a few episodes of vertigo. I'm nauseated a good deal of the time. And I've had migraines a lot. Now when I talk about nausea I'm not talking about the nausea with migraines. I'm experiencing it without the headaches. And I experience sensitivity to light and sounds without migraines. So these are not all migraine related symptoms. It is sensitivities to external stimuli that is triggered by the Fibromyalgia. Lyrica has worked for me. I was taking 150 mg three times a day. I knew I was going to have to go back on it. In the meantime, I have lost 43 pounds with the GURD diet and all the troubles I've been having with my stomach, etc. I know that when I got on the Lyrica last time I blew up like a balloon. I'm afraid that going back on it would cause me to gain back all the weight I've lost. I was going to schedule an appointment for the doctor to get back on it, then all of a sudden, BAM!!!, I ended up in the emergency room and had my gall bladder taken out. Well, not being on the Lyrica made that recovery even harder. I just think had I still been on my meds it might have been a little easier. Not easy, but a little easier. So this week I finally went to the doctor to see if I could start back on the Lyrica. I am also going to try to function on a lower dose. I'm starting at 75 mg a day for a week and then going up to 150 mg once a day. I'll see the doctor in a month.

About This Blog

I have Fibromyalgia. Do you know what that is? Fibromyalgia (pronounced fy-bro-my-AL-ja) is a common and complex chronic pain disorder that affects people physically, mentally and socially. It is characterized by chronic widespread pain, multiple tender points, abnormal pain processing, sleep disturbances, fatigue and often psychological distress. At least that's what the experts say. But Fibro is different for everyone. I know we are all hurting and every day is hard. What I want is a place to ask questions, get opinions and answers. If you need to described your symptoms or struggles in order to ask questions or to share your solutions, that's great. But let's not just post about how miserable we are. I want to be part of a group that shares this together, but with a positive outlook. Let's learn how to live with this, survive it, be cured from it. I only get one life and I will not let Fibromyalgia take the joy from my living it.

***WARNING:***

content is personal and, as Fibromyalgia is a medical condition, may be graphic in nature.

ABOUT ME

I am 36 years old and live in Texas with my husband, currently two foster babies and two dogs. After two years of refusing to let my doctor diagnose me with Fibromyalgia I was finally and officially diagnosed in the fall of 2008. Looking back I believe I have probably had Fibro since about 2001. Although everyone's case is different I always felt that mine was exceptionally so. After sharing this blog and interacting with others on Facebook I have found that is not the case. I have the pain normally associated with FM however not to the debilitating levels that many of you suffer. I suffer mostly from an extreme sensitivity to external stimuli, i.e. sounds, smells, light, movement, changes in temperature resulting in severe nausea, vertigo and migraines. Before my diagnosis people would often ask me if I was pregnant and my reply would be, "if so I've been pregnant for six years."